FRESNO, Calif. - The game was billed as a homecoming for Stanford freshmen and Fresno natives Brook and Robin Lopez, but it was sophomore forward Lawrence Hill who stole the show. Hill, who finished with a Stanford-high 17 points, hit two free throws with 14.7 seconds left to give the Cardinal a 69-67 win in a nail-biter over Fresno State.

Junior forward Dominic McGuire led the Bulldogs with 25 points and 13 rebounds, but missed the potential go-ahead free throw to leave the game tied 67-67 with 15.3 seconds left. Hill was fouled rebounding the miss, setting up his game-winning free throws in the face of a rabid Fresno State student section.

“Our guys responded well to a very hostile environment,” Stanford coach Trent Johnson said. “We rebounded the ball, and I thought we defended well, but the most important thing was that we kept our composure.”

Coming off the heels of a 62-46 drubbing at home by Santa Clara last Saturday, Stanford (7-2) came out of the gates strong to take a 10-2 lead in the opening five minutes. The Cardinal’s defense stymied the Bulldogs inside, leading to several transition baskets by Hill and senior forward Fred Washington (12 points and 9 rebounds). Sophomore guard Anthony Goods capped the Card’s run with a three-pointer.

“The whole team was really focused,” Brook Lopez said of the team’s opening run. “We came out hard and worked hard. We felt that we need to come out more physical and I thought we did that tonight.”

The Bulldogs (9-2) resorted to difficult perimeter shots in the first half but started hitting their jumpers to mount a comeback in the second stanza. Junior forward Hector Hernandez hit three early shots from beyond the arc, the last of which sparked an 8-0 run that gave Fresno a 44-43 lead at the 13-minute mark. Neither team was able to pull away, with Washington scoring repeatedly on offensive rebound put-backs for the Cardinal, while McGuire was able to get to the free throw stripe at will at the other end.

A dramatic collision between the two with just over a minute and a half remaining left Washington on the ground for several minutes and brought the record 15,423 in attendance at the Save Mart Center out of their seats in uproar over a perceived non-call on McGuire’s drive to the hoop. Slow to get on his feet, Washington eventually returned to the game two possessions later.

“I was scared at first when I saw him go down,” Brook Lopez said of Washington’s collision. “But Fred’s the toughest guy on the team.”

Stanford’s sloppy play in the final minutes nearly cost them the game. Goods dribbled off his foot and sophomore point guard Mitch Johnson lost the ball to give Fresno a layup to cut their deficit to three. A Cardinal five-second violation on the next play gave McGuire a driving basket to bring the game within one.

McGuire stole the ball from Johnson on the ensuing possession and was fouled, setting up the potential game-winning free throws.

But Johnson made good with a key deflection after Hill’s free throws, leaving the Bulldogs with only 0.1 seconds left to attempt a shot. Fresno missed a tip attempt at the buzzer, leaving the Cardinal with an exasperating but hard-fought win.

“Our guys responded well,” Trent Johnson said. “I thought we kept our poise. Sometimes we look really good, sometimes we look really bad.”